Smoking Brakes Won't Even Activate ABS
#1
Smoking Brakes Won't Even Activate ABS
I just suffered through an AutoX day with brakes that would not even grab enough to lock the wheels up once they were hot. This particular track setup was more high-speed than I'm used to with very few cones to slow the drivers down. Two laps of an approximate square with only one corner and the stop box requiring prolonged, extreme braking. I blew through the stop box by many, many feet twice even though I have enough experience to know how to get the car stopped in time.
Front pads smoking a fair bit (but not too crazy) and no matter what I did, I could not get enough stopping power to activate the ABS. I am convinced that the ABS is functioning correctly, so let's explore other ideas aside from that, for now. (I could get the ABS to come on in the first couple of easier braking areas.)
I have R1 Concepts Premium Rotors and they are slotted and cross drilled, paired with their R1 Concepts ceramic pads. I followed their bed-in procedure perfectly last fall when I installed them along with new fluid.
I have some theories, but I'd rather hear your thoughts before I taint them with mine.
Front pads smoking a fair bit (but not too crazy) and no matter what I did, I could not get enough stopping power to activate the ABS. I am convinced that the ABS is functioning correctly, so let's explore other ideas aside from that, for now. (I could get the ABS to come on in the first couple of easier braking areas.)
I have R1 Concepts Premium Rotors and they are slotted and cross drilled, paired with their R1 Concepts ceramic pads. I followed their bed-in procedure perfectly last fall when I installed them along with new fluid.
I have some theories, but I'd rather hear your thoughts before I taint them with mine.
#2
Super Moderator
MY350Z.COM
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ABS is fine , your pads probably suck
#5
*EDIT: Just to explain the title further... What I mean is that I could not get enough clamping force to even lock the wheels up. I could tell that because the ABS would not come on.
I can appreciate that they aren't competition pads, but this particular event was nothing compared to the AutoX that I am more used to. There just wasn't much braking involved - it was a much more high speed event than I have seen previously so I wouldn't have thought that it demanded that much from the braking system. In a 1min-50sec event, there was really only two really significant (reducing speed by 60+mph) braking events. The rest was not extreme.
Last edited by DaveJackson; 09-09-2012 at 05:05 PM.
#6
Registered User
well if you dont wanna change your pads change our brake fluid. use high temp , bleed it properly and try it again. but i would think its your pads since its only auto cross.(short runs)
#7
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Fluid is fine if the pedal didn't get spongy, but if you smokes your pads a nice 3 to 4 pump bleed should be done. Just upgrade to a set of EBC green pads for the next autocross , they can also be driven on the street.
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#8
Thanks a lot for the advice so far!
Is there a chance that the surface of the rotors became contaminated with something? I don't spray WD-40 on them, but surely they get car wash soap on them from time to time. I wouldn't think that would cause a problem, but I'm just exploring options. If there was contamination, I would expect the surface to be somewhat rainbowed or show some sign of hot spots and I'm not seeing that, so I think that rules that out. Thoughts?
I would lean toward some Hawk pads if they have something that is street-able and can also tolerate AutoX, but I haven't started searching, yet.
Is there a chance that the surface of the rotors became contaminated with something? I don't spray WD-40 on them, but surely they get car wash soap on them from time to time. I wouldn't think that would cause a problem, but I'm just exploring options. If there was contamination, I would expect the surface to be somewhat rainbowed or show some sign of hot spots and I'm not seeing that, so I think that rules that out. Thoughts?
I would lean toward some Hawk pads if they have something that is street-able and can also tolerate AutoX, but I haven't started searching, yet.
#9
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Hawk HP+ would be the pads you want, EBC red would probably be a better choice.
#11
I never had any problems with my stock set-up either, that's why I am surprised that this "upgrade" seems to be letting me down so hard.
#16
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BBK will do the same thing without proper pads. I've autocrossed and tracked on both EBC yellow and red , great pads for autocross. Yellow was good on the track.